When Jack finally spotted her from the other end of the square, he planted his feet on the ground and motioned for the cameraman to turn the camera in her direction, then put the bullhorn to his mouth. Was he really going to air their dirty laundry in the most intimate and public way possible?
“Sterling Andrews, I’m sorry.”
Maybe he was. She smiled, unable to stop her feet from walking toward him.
“I was a jackass,” he continued. “I let my insecurities push you away.”
She walked closer still, the eyes of the crowd following her as she approached. Given her current situation, she now knew why Jack disliked being in the public eye. It was unnerving.
“I have all the money in the world and I realized I want the only thing that my money can’t buy.” He paused and her heart seized, waiting for his answer. “You. The only thing in this world I want…is you.”
She had closed the distance between them now. A woman sighed to her right.
That sigh, that romantic gesture, forced Sterling to growl in disgust. She’d bet the two dollars in her bank account the woman wouldn’t be swooning if she knew exactly what Mr. Vaughn had accused her of.
“Please tell me I still have a chance with you. I’m so sorry.”
She’d spent the last couple of days moping around, depressed that Jack thought so poorly of her, but now anger simmered beneath her skin. She crossed her arms over her chest. “What made you change your mind?”
The cameraman panned over to Jack.
He stood straight, breathing at a rapid pace. “Well…” He grinned. “I got this really cool scrapbook.”
She was happy he appreciated her efforts. But was it too little too late? She tapped her foot in a steady rhythm, waiting for more.
He placed one hand on her shoulder and squeezed her tightly. “And because I love you.”
She sucked in a hard breath just as the cameraman swooped in for a closer shot. “What did you just say?”
He lifted the bullhorn to his mouth. “I—”
Sterling swatted it away. She didn’t understand. He hated his private business being splashed around the Internet.
Her heart fluttered. “Jack… This is all on camera.” She pointed to the man standing beside her. “This is very public. I thought you—”
“I love you, Sterling. I want the whole world to know it. And I want you to know that I’m willing to do the one thing I despise to prove to you just how much.”
Even if his confession was true, there was no way he could continue to love a woman who had let herself get caught up in her parents’ addiction. She shook her head. “There are things you don’t know. Things that would make you think twice about loving me.” She looked over at the camera, tears welling in her eyes. It seemed as though not only Jack’s dirty laundry was going to be exposed today.
He smiled. “I know all about your parents.”
“How…” The reporter shoved the microphone closer to her mouth. “What…”
“Penn told me.”
Damn Penn sticking her nose where it didn’t belong. Again.
“So you know…”
He nodded.
“And you still said…”
He nodded again. “I didn’t think I’d ever find a woman who would love me for more than just money, and everything that comes along with being a part of the Madewood legacy. Then I met you.”
She shook her head. “I’m broke. I have addict parents. I have siblings who are going to need to be put through university. I—”
He swooped in and kissed her. She softened against him, responding to the heat and hard flesh of his body. She would never get used to this. His kisses. Every time was like the first time.
“You have more money than you can spend in five lifetimes. You can go anywhere, do anything, be with anyone you want. Why would you want to be with me?”
“Because when the rest of the world has me pigeonholed, you have an uncanny ability to see me—the real me.”
Tears stung her eyes. This was exactly what she wanted to hear. “But… You’re leaving. You…left.”
He shook his head and pointed to the billboard. “I have a foundation to run.”
She gripped his shoulders, her arm bumping into the microphone. “I knew you could do it.”
“Sterling, this last week without you has been torture. I’ll still be able to run my restaurants, check in with them when I can, but my home is here. With you.”
The reporter sighed beside them just before she was bumped from behind and stumbled into his body. Behind them the crowd returned to their business, obviously bored with their spectacle. The entire world had fallen away. That’s what happened when he was near. She loved him. All of him. With or without money.